[artinfo] Fwd: Letter from Ukraine

[oberliht]

>Begin forwarded message:
>From: Dmytro Chepurnyi <<mailto:dc120320 at gmail.com>dc120320 at gmail.com>
>Subject: Letter from Ukraine
>Date: February 23, 2022 at 00:44:46 GMT+2
>To: undisclosed-recipients:;
>
>Dear friends and colleagues!
>
>On the 21st of February 2022, by recognizing the so-called Luhansk 
>and Donetsk People's Republics Russian Federation confirmed its 
>responsibility for the violence that is happening in eastern Ukraine 
>since 2014. Today, Ukraine is in more danger than ever because of 
>Russian aggression. I am writing now to ask for help. Go to your 
>government and demand help for our country, because this is not just 
>a war between Ukraine and Russia, this is a direct manifestation of 
>Russia's disdain of the norms of international law and an act of 
>open aggression with complete disregard of the established borders 
>in Europe. What is happening today paves the way for further Russian 
>military aggression, which could be the downfall of global peace and 
>security.
>
>Yesterday Vladimir Putin delivered an hour-long speech full of 
>fiction, cynicism, and aggressive militaristic rhetoric against 
>Ukraine. The Russian president referred a lot to the history of the 
>20th century, but his version of this history is a fabrication 
>filled with unachieved imperialistic dreams. This is worrying 
>because it means that Russia could initiate the occupation of any 
>post-imperial territories across Europe, continuing a pattern of 
>action we have witnessed in Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, and beyond. 
>Putin's speech - in which he rewrote Ukrainian history and denied 
>the existence of an independent Ukrainian state - concluded with a 
>formal statement recognizing the independence of Luhansk and 
>Donetsk, two territories in the east of Ukraine which have been 
>occupied by Russian-backed forces for eight years.
>
>Why am I writing to you right now with deep concern? I was born in 
>Luhansk in 1994 and the best times of my childhood were spent in my 
>grandma's house in the beautiful village in the Luhansk region. I 
>grew up in eastern Ukraine. Our family lived in a detached house in 
>a suburb of Luhansk. Part of my family was forced to become 
>internally displaced persons in 2014 because of Putin's decision to 
>occupy Crimea and his insurgence in Ukrainian Donbas. According to 
>the Ministry of Social Policy in Ukraine, there are about one 
>million internally displaced families who lost their homes due to 
>the Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine. The second part of my 
>family currently lives in a 'safe', non-occupied part of the Luhansk 
>oblast.
>
>The decision to recognize the independence of the so-called Luhansk 
>and Donetsk Peoples Republics has created an insecure situation in 
>the non-occupied territory of the Luhansk oblast, which is currently 
>defended by the Ukrainian army. Today there have been many 
>announcements suggesting that the newly recognized 'republics' want 
>to occupy the remainder of the Luhansk oblast with the support of 
>Russian troops. Russia has already prepared the official military 
>agreement with these so-called republics.
>
>Since 2014 due to the Russian military intervention the occupied 
>territories have become zones of violation of human rights. Among 
>the examples include an illegal prison that is based on the 
>territory of IZOLYATSIA, an art center in Donetsk I have regularly 
>worked with in Kyiv after its relocation. Checkpoints allowing 
>people in and out of these occupied territories interfere with the 
>right for mobility and restrict economic freedom, access to 
>medicine, and education. Russia and its republics cannot ensure 
>basic human rights for the "new citizens".
>
>These personal stories and reflections have become a subject of a 
>series of cultural projects I have initiated and realized 
>independently and with various organizations since 2016. I know many 
>cultural professionals and activists from Mariupol, Kramatorsk, 
>Sievierodonetsk, Porkrovsk, Myrnograd, Starobilsk, and other towns 
>of the Donbas region who don't want to be occupied or to relocate in 
>the nearest future, they are ready to defend the freedom and peace 
>in their communities.
>
>But in Ukraine today, my normal work is not possible. It is 
>impossible to plan future projects, publish texts or take part in 
>educational programs as the future is so grim and unpredictable due 
>to the Russian aggression against Ukraine. To be clear, this is 
>re-established colonialism in Europe. We condemn the Russian 
>aggression and call for everyone to support Ukraine and act against 
>Putin's crimes together with Ukrainians.
>
>Our response to this act must be to stop the Russian Federation from 
>taking any further steps to undermine the territorial sovereignty of 
>Ukraine. Russia and its government must be stopped immediately!
>
>Your public political position and support have never been so vital.
>Thank you very much for your support!
>
>Warmest greetings from peaceful Kyiv
>Dmytro
>
>Kyiv, Ukraine
>22.02.2022